Counting the Omer

After the week of Passover, we might think that the days of celebrating are over. But in reality, our festivity mindset must go on. The process of redemption that began in Passover still hasn’t ended.

What began in Passover will be made complete during the Feast of Weeks, also known as the Pentecost.

 

God wants us to connect both feasts with what is known as the “COUNTING OF THE OMER”.

(Leviticus 23:15-16) You shall count seven full weeks from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering. (16) You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath. Then you shall present a grain offering of new grain to the LORD.

Starting on the Day of Firstfruits, seven weeks are counted, that is 49 days. On the day after that, on day 50, a feast shall be celebrated for the Lord. This is the Feast of Weeks (in Hebrew, Shavuot), more commonly known today as Pentecost.

The Bible says that day 50 begins “on the day after the seventh Sabbath” (Lev. 23:16), meaning, Sunday. Therefore, the counting of the Omer has to begin on the Sunday of Firstfruits, which is the day when we celebrate the resurrection of the Messiah.

CONNECTING PASSOVER AND PENTECOST

What does Passover have to do with the Feast of Weeks?

The most obvious connection is in agriculture. The first fruits of the barley harvest were presented on the Feast of Firstfruits. And the first fruits of the wheat harvest were presented on the Feast of Weeks.

But this natural connection is only a shadow of a deeper, spiritual revelation. As we’ve mentioned before, the feasts tell us about our redemption, which is not just an “event”, but a process. What began at Passover continues on the feast of Unleavened Bread and Firstfruits, and it takes us all the way to Pentecost. The road does not end there, but it continues with the other feasts (which we will talk about in due time).

The feasts are the shadow, and the spiritual message is the following: our redemption begins when we believe that Jesus died, was buried, and rose from the dead on the third day; but it doesn’t end there… after being saved, we have to begin living as God commands, as God’s servants and not as slaves to sin. But, what does God command? What He commands are his “commandments” (forgive the redundancy). It is no “coincidence” that God gave the Law (the Torah, lit. instruction) at Mt. Sinai precisely on the day of the Pentecost.

When we understand this process, we see the importance of the “Counting of the Omer”, because this connects the three feasts of the Week of Passover with the Feast of Weeks (or Pentecost).

The redemption that begins with our confession of faith has to lead us to learn and to practice His Word. Faith has have action. That is the fruit that we present to the Lord. It is the fruit of repentance, of change, of redemption. We are no longer slaves to sin, now we serve the Lord Most High, who adopted us as his children.

(Romans 6:17-18) But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, (18) and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.